April 14, 2008

HOUSTON - The 2008 Rice women's basketball signing class recently wrapped up their successful high school careers. Brianna Hypolite earned Class 4-A Player of the Year as selected by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, while D'Frantz Smart notched Ms. Illinois Basketball runner-up status.

"We're excited for Brianna and D'Frantz who both have been honored during their senior seasons in their respective states," head coach Greg Williams said. "Recruiting players from winning backgrounds is important to our program. All four members of our signing class have done this. We like to see our recruits have strong senior seasons on the high school level because that usually carries over to the freshman season of their college career."

Hypolite headlined Dickinson High School to a school-record 34 victories and its second straight runner-up finish in the 4-A state playoffs en route to Player of the Year honors from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. She averaged 14.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 4.3 steals per game.

Smart sparked Whitney Young High School to its first Illinois 4-A state championship along with a No. 11 final ranking in the USA Today Super 25. Smart also was runner-up to Sarah Boothe, a 6-5 post player who has signed with Stanford, for Ms. Illinois basketball. The explosive point guard guided the Dolphins to a 30-3 season and averaged 9.3 points to go along with six assists per game.

Candace Ashford (Plano West HS) and Amenemope McKinney (Arlington Bowie HS) each had their teams make runs to the third round of the Texas 5-A state playoffs.